


At the End of it All

by Ehliena



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Jealous!Anakin, Sort of hurt/comfort, force ghost, platonic, post Episode VI
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 11:51:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16263638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ehliena/pseuds/Ehliena
Summary: Anakin and Obi-Wan talk at the end of Episode VI.





	At the End of it All

**Author's Note:**

> First fic in... a long time. It's more of a ficlet actually. I hope you enjoy this.

The Empire was defeated, the Light Side was triumphant. Obi-Wan supposed that it was high time for him to get some much deserved rest and relaxation after spending the majority of his life, and the initial years of his death, looking after not one, but two Skywalkers.

Even in death, it seemed that Obi-Wan was not about to get any reprieve from his charge. Anakin was nearby, and judging from the emotions the former Sith was giving off, he was not at all happy with Obi-Wan because of…something.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan said as he felt something akin to a headache begin. “Come out and tell me what it is that has you all sulky.”

“Master,” Anakin greeted as he materialized. “I apologize for disturbing you.”

“Anakin Skywalker, apologizing for disturbing me?” Obi-Wan joked. “My, what has the galaxy come to? Next thing you know, there’ll be flying banthas.”

“Master,” Anakin said, his tone reminding Obi-Wan of the petulant young padawan that he once was.

“Forgive me old friend,” Obi-Wan flashed him a small smile. “It’s the time in isolation. It drives one a bit…”

“Senile?” Anakin said helpfully, causing Obi-Wan’s eyebrow to rise. “Sorry, it’s just… you could look younger, I know you know that. But you choose to look like the old hermit from Tatooine.”

“It’s what I’m accustomed to being.”

“But it’s not who you are!” Anakin argued.

“It’s who I have become,” Obi-Wan shook his head.

“You were the Negotiator!” Anakin continued, ignoring what Obi-Wan said. “We were the Team!”

“That’s neither here nor there,” Obi-Wan said. “What is this really about Anakin? We have all of eternity to argue about the philosophy of self-identity. I doubt you were sulking just because of that.”

“I wasn’t sulking,” Anakin pouted, his previous energy dissipating as he remembered why he approached his former mentor. “Of all the people…”

“What was that?” Obi-Wan asked. “Age has left me hard of hearing of late, and you are mumbling.”

“I said!” Anakin near shouted. He caught himself and then continued in a much calmer voice. “I said, why did you give my daughter to Bail Organa, of all the other available people?”

“Oh that?” Obi-Wan blinked in surprise.

“Yes that!” Anakin said sharply. “I understand why you gave Luke to Owen in Tatooine. I swore I’d never go back to that dust ball. But why did you Organa raise Leia?”

“He offered.”

Anakin stared at Obi-Wan, struck dumb by the older man’s answer. He wasn’t certain if Obi-Wan was joking or if he was serious.

“Because he offered?” Anakin clarified. It was possible that he had misheard. Obi-Wan wasn’t the only one getting on in years after all, and Anakin was sure that two decades spent inside that life support suit had done something to his senses.

“Yes,” Obi-Wan nodded. “Bail had offered to take Leia in. It was a good solution. The twins needed to be separated to hide them from Palpatine.”

“Yes,” Anakin agreed. He knew what would have happened if the Emperor had gotten hold of the twins. There would be no balance, there would only be chaos and there would never have been a chance for the Rebellion. “But why Organa?”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, studying his face. “This again? After so long?”

Anakin had once been jealous of the amount of time Bail Organa spent with his two favorite people: Padme and Obi-Wan. He never told Padme, but he didn’t need to tell Obi-Wan. His former Master knew him well enough to just know.

“You could have kept her,” Anakin sulked.

“She wouldn’t have been safe,” Obi-Wan pointed out. “Besides, I was also looking after Luke, albeit from a distance.”

“She wasn’t safe with Organa either,” Anakin countered. “He basically put her in danger.”

“You know she did that herself,” Obi-Wan reasoned. “There was no way that your daughter, Padme’s daughter, would sit idly by when she saw injustice in the galaxy. Bail and his wife had given her all the right training that she needed in order to help. If she grew up with someone who trained her for battle rather than diplomacy, she might not have survived so long.”

“I know that,” Anakin agreed. “But still. Bail Organa?”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan scolded, changing his appearance from the ragged hermit to the younger general that Anakin was familiar with. “There is no changing the past. I believe that Master Yoda and I made the correct choice. It ended up for the best.”

“The best?” Anakin asked, his temper flaring up. “No Obi-Wan, the best would have been me and Padme raising our children, not what happened. We would have been happy. Our children would have been happy. If the council--”

“Enough Anakin,” Obi-Wan warned. “We cannot change the past, no matter how much we wished we could. We did the best with what we had. I’m sorry if you couldn’t see that.”

Obi-Wan turned away from Anakin, shrinking from the once proud General who could seemingly pull-off miracles to the rundown old man that he became. Seeing the abrupt change made Anakin’s anger simmer down.

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin softly said, “I’m sorry about my outburst.”

“It was expected,” Obi-Wan replied, waving off the episode. “If there was nothing else?”

“Obi-Wan…”

 “I have had,” Obi-Wan explained, cutting off any further attempts at apologies that Anakin had. He needed to make one as well. “Over twenty years to think about what we did. Twenty years to rationalize our decision. I have made every counter-argument and looked at every possible option that we could have taken. I reached the conclusion that we did what was best for the Light.”

“And for my children?”

“They were fed and clothed,” Obi-Wan pointed out. “They were raised safely away from the Dark Side. And they were protected.”

“And Padme?”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan warned.

They both considered her a taboo topic. Obi-Wan had felt guilty that he couldn’t save her. He replayed different scenarios, similar to what he used to do to strategize for battles, but he couldn’t think of one where he could save them all.

For Anakin, he felt that he was the only one to blame. He hadn’t been strong enough to resist the call of the Dark Side. While he still partially blamed the Council, he knew that they weren’t the only ones responsible for his wife’s death.

“Sorry,” Anakin said. “There are just so many things that I…”

He trailed off. And Obi-Wan, being Obi-Wan understood.

“Understanding takes time,” Obi-Wan reassured him. “If you have any more questions, I would gladly answer them for you at a later date perhaps?”

“Yes,” Anakin nodded.

Obi-Wan smiled and dissipated, going off to rest in the Force’s version of quarters. Anakin stared at the spot where the man stood for a moment longer.

He had quite a lot of things to think about, but he had all the time in the galaxy. Still, one thing was bothering him.

“Why, of all people, Bail Organa?”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so the plot was honestly just: Anakin is jealous of Bail Organa. That's it. Tell me what you thought of it?


End file.
